Written Answers Friday 15 September 2006

Scottish Executive

Anthrax

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it offers to individuals and businesses who work with animal hides in relation to the potential risk from Anthrax, in light of the recent death in the Scottish Borders.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice there was prior to July 2006 for individuals and businesses who work with animal hides in relation to the potential risk from Anthrax.

Mr Andy Kerr: Advice and guidance on the potential risk from Anthrax to individuals and businesses who work with animal hides is a matter for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE has advised the Scottish Executive Health Department that guidance published in 1997 on Anthrax: Safe Working and Prevention of Infection (HSG174) is available via HSE Books.

Anthrax

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many suspected cases of Anthrax have been recorded in each year since 1995.

Mr Andy Kerr: In Scotland, there have been no notifications of suspected cases of Anthrax in humans recorded since 1995. The last suspected cases in animals were in 2005 and the last confirmed case in animals was in 1997.

Anthrax

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date Scottish Ministers were notified that a report had been sent to the Procurator Fiscal in relation to the death from Anthrax of Christopher Norris from the Scottish Borders.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-27842 on 11 September 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Asylum Seekers

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many unaccompanied asylum seeker children have been in residential care in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) month and (b) local authority area.

Robert Brown: This information is not held centrally.

Business Learning Accounts

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses have applied to receive funding through the business learning accounts programme and how many applications were successful.

Allan Wilson: Businesses did not "apply" for a business learning account (BLA), instead they were identified by Business advisors as meeting the criteria for BLAs and were invited to undertake a Training Needs Analysis (TNA) to identify their training needs before committing to a BLA.

  Six hundred and eighteen TNAs were undertaken and 422 BLAs opened.

Crime

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many offences involving air guns there were in each of the last 10 years, broken down into those committed by persons aged (a) under 16 and (b) 16 and over, in each police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: The number of recorded crimes and offences involving air weapons and unidentified weapons in the last ten years, and the age breakdown of the main accused, where known, by police force area, are given in the following tables.

  There have been changes in recording practices which have affected the number of recorded crimes and offences involving air weapons in recent years. In Strathclyde, prior to 2001, and Lothian and Borders, prior to 2002, if a weapon was not seen or seen but not established, an assumption was made about what type of weapon this was. It was usually assumed that it was an air weapon and was recorded as such in the statistical return. However, this recording practice was changed, and if a weapon was not seen or seen but not established, it was recorded as such and no assumption was made about what the weapon was. This had the effect of decreasing the number of incidents involving an air weapon and increasing those involving an unidentified weapon.

  In 2003 Lothian and Borders police began recording details of incidents using crime reports from members of the public. The complainants may identify the firearm involved as an air weapon, based on the type of damage caused, even if they have not seen the firearm. This has led to an increase in the alleged use of air weapons and a decrease in the alleged use of unidentified firearms.

  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial Year, 1995-96

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified


 Central
 20
 0
 23
 5
 14
 0
 57
 5


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1
 0
 8
 0
 1
 0
 10
 0


 Fife
 21
 0
 21
 2
 3
 1
 45
 3


 Grampian
 16
 0
 27
 1
 65
 4
 108
 5


 Lothian and Borders
 33
 2
 30
 2
 163
 48
 226
 52


 Northern
 5
 0
 0
 0
 4
 0
 9
 0


 Strathclyde
 65
 3
 46
 71
 531
 93
 642
 167


 Tayside
 15
 0
 10
 0
 33
 1
 58
 1


 Scotland
 176
 5
 165
 81
 814
 147
 1,155
 233



  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial Year, 1996-97

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified


 Central
 10
 0
 11
 0
 7
 0
 28
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 5
 0
 10
 0
 0
 0
 15
 0


 Fife
 23
 0
 11
 0
 5
 1
 39
 1


 Grampian
 12
 0
 13
 0
 34
 2
 59
 2


 Lothian and Borders
 11
 0
 19
 1
 150
 4
 180
 5


 Northern
 3
 0
 2
 0
 0
 1
 5
 1


 Strathclyde
 72
 3
 79
 25
 414
 39
 565
 67


 Tayside
 38
 0
 17
 18
 49
 5
 104
 23


 Scotland
 174
 3
 162
 44
 659
 52
 995
 99



  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial Year, 1997-98

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon


 Central
 5
 0
 20
 0
 3
 0
 28
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 2
 0
 6
 0
 0
 1
 8
 1


 Fife
 5
 0
 17
 0
 2
 0
 24
 0


 Grampian
 11
 0
 19
 2
 22
 1
 52
 3


 Lothian and Borders
 14
 0
 9
 4
 116
 25
 139
 29


 Northern
 3
 0
 1
 0
 0
 0
 4
 0


 Strathclyde
 62
 0
 86
 8
 265
 24
 413
 32


 Tayside
 15
 4
 17
 0
 17
 0
 49
 4


 Scotland
 117
 4
 175
 14
 425
 51
 717
 69



  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial year, 1998-99

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon


 Central
 14
 2
 25
 2
 10
 0
 49
 4


 Dumfries and Galloway
 6
 0
 3
 0
 2
 0
 11
 0


 Fife
 5
 0
 20
 0
 1
 0
 26
 0


 Grampian
 11
 1
 9
 1
 24
 3
 44
 5


 Lothian and Borders
 18
 0
 14
 1
 117
 28
 149
 29


 Northern
 0
 0
 4
 0
 0
 0
 4
 0


 Strathclyde
 54
 1
 63
 13
 211
 36
 328
 50


 Tayside
 13
 0
 11
 4
 40
 1
 64
 5


 Scotland
 121
 4
 149
 21
 405
 68
 675
 93



  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial year, 1999-2000

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon


 Central
 7
 0
 10
 0
 15
 0
 32
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 3
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 3
 0


 Fife
 6
 0
 9
 0
 8
 0
 23
 0


 Grampian
 7
 0
 22
 2
 25
 4
 54
 6


 Lothian and Borders
 14
 0
 21
 6
 131
 37
 166
 43


 Northern
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Strathclyde
 55
 2
 73
 5
 175
 29
 303
 36


 Tayside
 7
 0
 16
 0
 22
 2
 45
 2


 Scotland
 99
 2
 151
 13
 376
 72
 626
 87



  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial year, 2000-01

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon


 Central
 11
 1
 19
 2
 7
 0
 37
 3


 Dumfries and Galloway
 3
 0
 6
 0
 3
 0
 12
 0


 Fife
 3
 0
 5
 0
 4
 0
 12
 0


 Grampian
 4
 0
 15
 1
 30
 0
 49
 1


 Lothian and Borders
 14
 0
 14
 6
 121
 45
 149
 51


 Northern
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Strathclyde
 54
 0
 70
 33
 149
 55
 273
 88


 Tayside
 2
 0
 22
 3
 12
 8
 36
 11


 Scotland
 91
 1
 151
 45
 326
 108
 568
 154



  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial year, 2001-02

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon


 Central
 3
 0
 16
 2
 2
 6
 21
 8


 Dumfries and Galloway
 18
 0
 18
 0
 8
 0
 44
 0


 Fife
 3
 0
 16
 0
 6
 0
 25
 0


 Grampian
 15
 1
 21
 0
 20
 0
 56
 1


 Lothian and Borders
 20
 3
 9
 0
 75
 82
 104
 85


 Northern
 0
 0
 4
 0
 1
 0
 5
 0


 Strathclyde
 26
 14
 48
 73
 19
 261
 93
 348


 Tayside
 6
 0
 19
 1
 44
 1
 69
 2


 Scotland
 91
 18
 151
 76
 175
 350
 417
 444



  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial year, 2002-03

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon


 Central
 0
 0
 7
 0
 4
 0
 11
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 3
 0
 2
 0
 10
 0
 15
 0


 Fife
 7
 0
 14
 0
 5
 0
 26
 0


 Grampian
 22
 0
 21
 5
 10
 2
 53
 7


 Lothian and Borders
 14
 0
 38
 6
 69
 137
 121
 143


 Northern
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Strathclyde
 27
 9
 38
 56
 5
 266
 70
 331


 Tayside
 2
 0
 8
 0
 28
 3
 38
 3


 Scotland
 75
 9
 128
 67
 131
 408
 334
 484



  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial year, 2003-04

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon


 Central
 0
 0
 9
 0
 4
 0
 13
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 2
 0
 0
 0
 12
 0
 14
 0


 Fife
 0
 0
 5
 0
 9
 0
 14
 0


 Grampian
 0
 1
 9
 5
 4
 2
 13
 8


 Lothian and Borders
 4
 0
 32
 1
 227
 34
 263
 35


 Northern
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Strathclyde
 21
 12
 47
 84
 2
 219
 70
 315


 Tayside
 6
 0
 14
 2
 34
 6
 54
 8


 Scotland
 33
 13
 116
 92
 292
 261
 441
 366



  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have been used by Age of Main Accused and Financial year, 2004-051

  

 Age of Accused
 Under 16
 16 and Over
 No Accused Identified
 Total


 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Police Force
 Air Weapon
 Un-Identified
 Air Weapon


 Central
 5
 0
 16
 2
 8
 0
 29
 2


 Dumfries and Galloway
 5
 0
 7
 0
 9
 0
 21
 0


 Fife
 2
 0
 0
 0
 5
 4
 7
 4


 Grampian
 2
 0
 15
 6
 3
 2
 20
 8


 Lothian and Borders
 5
 0
 31
 6
 272
 18
 308
 24


 Northern
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Strathclyde
 19
 17
 45
 67
 12
 283
 76
 367


 Tayside
 2
 0
 15
 5
 20
 10
 37
 15


 Scotland
 40
 17
 129
 86
 329
 317
 498
 420



  Note: 1. Figures revised since publication of 2004-05 to take into account late returns. There is one more incident involving an air weapon with no accused identified.

Emergency Planning

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions since 1999 officials from its Justice Department with responsibility for civil contingencies planning have met to discuss plans in the event of a possible accidental explosion of nuclear weapons stored in Scotland and what the worst estimates are for the number of likely casualties as a result of such an accident.

Cathy Jamieson: Responsibility for nuclear weapons stored in Scotland is reserved to the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Arrangements for responding to radiation accidents are covered by The Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001 (REPPIR), which provide a framework for the protection of the public through emergency preparedness for radiation accidents with the potential to affect members of the public. The Executive, Scottish ministers, emergency response organisations and Ministry of Defence staff with responsibility for civil contingencies planning, maintain a close liaison to ensure effective responses would be in place where necessary. Further information can be found in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and its accompanying guidance Preparing Scotland published on the Scottish Executive website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/27140215/0 .

Fuel Poverty

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to alleviate fuel poverty, particularly among vulnerable groups.

Malcolm Chisholm: Current fuel poverty programmes will continue. From January 2007 the Central heating programme will be extended to include upgrades to partial and inefficient systems for those who claim the guarantee element of Pension Credit and the Warm Deal will be extended to families with a disabled child. I refer the member to the answers to questions S2W-24143 and S2W-26949 on 17 March 2006 and 20 June 2006 respectively.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Housing

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to secure extra funding for the increased security measures implemented nationwide in the wake of the recent alleged terrorist plot.

Cathy Jamieson: We are committed to ensuring that police in Scotland have adequate resources to assist in combating terrorism. In June this year the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) announced the appointment of a Counter Terrorism portfolio holder who will examine the way Counter Terrorism policing is delivered in Scotland in order to ensure best value in terms of structure and funding. If any additional funding is deemed to be necessary, it will be considered in the forthcoming Spending Review in 2007.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the members of, and advisers to, the group examining Glasgow Housing Association’s second stage stock transfer.

Johann Lamont: The members of the Joint Team on financial issues are officials from: Communities Scotland, Glasgow Housing Association, Glasgow City Council and potential purchasers.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the purposes for which its funding to Glasgow Housing Association has been used since the association’s inception.

Johann Lamont: Scottish Executive funding to Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) has been used to support the delivery of GHA’s business plan. A copy of the business plan is available at: http://www.gha.org.uk .

  In particular, some of this Scottish Executive funding has been directly targeted at funding the installation of central heating systems for tenants and the costs associated with the demolition of redundant stock.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any representations from Glasgow Housing Association in respect of the capital and revenue costs and funding requirements of the second stage transfer of its housing stock and, if so, whether it will publish details of these representations.

Johann Lamont: Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) has made representations to the Scottish Executive about the financial implications of second stage transfers (SST). Following these representations, ministers set up the Ministerial Progress Group on SST to bring together key partners – GHA, local housing organisations, the Scottish Executive, Communities Scotland and Glasgow City Council – in order to consider how best to move SST forward. In addition, a joint team of officials from these organisations is currently looking at the complex financial issues raised by SST. Its report will be made available in due course and will include information about the points raised by GHA.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its target deadline is for the implementation of Glasgow Housing Association’s second stage stock transfer.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish Executive does not have a specific target deadline for second stage transfers (SST) to take place, but would like to see early progress over the coming months. The joint team on financial issues is currently considering the implications of different options with regard to timing.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish its comments on the costs to Glasgow Housing Association of its second stage stock transfer as contained in the Auditor General for Scotland’s report, Council housing transfers , published in March 2006.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish Executive has no plans to publish any of the material provided to Audit Scotland as part of its investigation into council housing transfers. This is because the Scottish Executive made available a broad range of information to Audit Scotland, including access to relevant files, to aid its understanding of all aspects of the community ownership policy and process, including the Glasgow transfer and the second stage transfers. This material, together with information from other sources, would have informed the conclusions and recommendations contained in the Council housing transfers report of March 2006.

Police

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent police officers were employed by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06.

Cathy Jamieson: The information is shown in the following table:

  

 Year Ending
 Number of Full-Time Equivalent Police Officers


 31 March 2005
 480.28


 31 March 2006
 504.90



  Source: Quarterly Strength Return from police forces.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what average (a) hourly rate and (b) expenses were paid for the services of (i) partners, (ii) qualified solicitors and (iii) unqualified solicitors involved in representation of the defenders in the Napier case.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) was represented by the Office of the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive (OSSE). The SPS did not incur any direct costs for this work.

Regeneration

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has made available to each local authority for town centre regeneration in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Funding is not ring fenced specifically for town centre regeneration. However, such regeneration can be supported through the core local government finance settlement, through Communities Scotland’s investment in housing and regeneration and through programmes such as Business Improvement Districts and Historic Scotland’s Historic Environment Regeneration Fund.